Ex-principal Demoted Again

Reale Now Assigned To Teach German

August 02, 2006|By LORETTA WALDMAN; Courant Staff Writer

NEW BRITAIN — Four days after beginning a new job as interim associate principal, former New Britain High School Principal Thomas Reale learned he had been demoted again -- this time to a job as a teacher.

The news, announced by Reale in an e-mail to staff July 28, is the latest twist in an increasingly contentious and public stand-off between Reale and Superintendent Doris Kurtz over her decision to remove him as principal.

Robert Stacy, the district's director of human resources, insisted Tuesday the latest change was not a demotion, but the result of Reale not signing a settlement agreement that would have made him an interim associate principal. Reale's failing to do so, Stacy said, prompted Kurtz to issue a July 28 letter ``returning him to an assignment'' teaching German, a job he already did part time while principal.

Reale said the agreement left him uncertain about his future with the district and would have stripped him of his right to take legal action or grieve the demotion. It made reference to conditions, he said, but did not include the document detailing those conditions.

``I didn't even know what I was agreeing to,'' Reale said Monday. ``It was offering me nothing.''

Reale's three-year tenure as principal was a rocky one. His mission from reform-minded Kurtz was to upend the old way of doing things at a crowded school dogged by low test scores and a high dropout rate. Teachers complained about his brusque management-style and being excluded from the decision-making process involved in a massive restructuring of the school.

The teachers' union conducted a survey that found seven out of 10 teachers had no confidence in his leadership. To call attention to their grievances, union leaders conducted a job action in spring 2005.

Reale admitted last week he could have done things differently, but says he was simply carrying out Kurtz's orders, which included not discussing the restructuring plans before they were presented to the school board. Since his demotion, some of his former critics have rallied to his support.

Kurtz and other school officials have repeatedly declined to discuss details of Reale's case.

Though initially silent, Reale has opened up recently, and spoke freely Monday about his troubles with Kurtz.

They began, he says, when he approached Kurtz in April about stepping down as principal at the end of the 2006-07 school year to teach German and Chinese, a program he had been working to start at the school and traveled to China to help organize. After conferring with the board, Kurtz denied the request and instead removed Reale.

Reale attempted to tell the school board his side of the story at a meeting July 10, but his request to meet in executive session was turned down by board President Frances Wolski. Reale protested his removal as principal during the public participation segment of the meeting, saying he was ``shell-shocked'' over a decision ``being dropped without warning''.

His status remained a mystery until July 21 when Kurtz announced she was launching a national search for a new principal and was making Vice Principal Michael Foran interim principal.

Reale has filed three grievances, one of which raises objections to Kurtz using the results of a teacher poll she conducted on his performance in his evaluation. Reale has said he intends the grievance hearings to be public; no hearings have been scheduled. Wolski said board members are expected to take up Reale's case in executive session when they meet Aug. 14.